Poll warns Republicans of focus on deficit

An outside group aligned with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has commissioned a report that warns conservatives against adopting an all-spending cuts, all-the-time message, and suggests that leaders on the right put a heavier emphasis on less abstract issues such as education and gas prices.

The poll, commissioned by the nonprofit YG Network and obtained by POLITICO, shows that even Americans concerned about deficits and debt are far more concerned with their own personal economic well-being.

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The YG Network polling, conducted by the GOP firm McLaughlin & Associates, found that 38 percent of Americans name the “economy and jobs” as the issue of greatest importance to them. Twenty percent named “deficit and debt” as their top concern, and 16 percent pointed to health care.

“It is important to note that ‘economy and jobs’ is almost twice that of ‘deficit and debt,’” pollster John McLaughlin notes in the report.

The polling questions related to entitlements are just as bracing. Voters are willing to consider some changes to the Medicare system – raising the eligibility age to 67 and means-testing benefits – but less than half are enthusiastic about changing the system immediately in order to balance the budget over a decade.

Asked to choose one government program they would be willing to cut, only 14 percent of respondents named Social Security or Medicare. Just over three quarters – 76 percent – picked military spending or other, unspecified “welfare programs.”

The survey represents the latest prominent attempt by center-right leaders in Washington to nudge Republicans toward adopting a comprehensive political agenda that appeals to the middle class.

While public polls have shown the GOP continues to perform well on questions related to spending, the outcome of the 2012 election raised serious questions about the political potency of a message overwhelmingly anchored in hawkishness on the national debt. There are persistent doubts, even among foes of public spending, that a majority of the electorate is prepared to reward legislators for implementing deep cuts to government.

John Murray, who heads the YG Network, confirmed that the poll was “specifically designed to challenge the assumption that spending cuts as a central theme is sufficient.”

It’s not that spending restraint is a bad issue for conservatives, according to Murray; it’s just not enough, on its own, to drive middle-class support for a center-right policy vision.

“It doesn’t feel aspirational and it doesn’t feel like a message of the future,” said Murray, who suggested conservatives need an agenda “broad enough so [Americans] feel like it impacts them in a real way.”

The poll points specifically toward education and energy as areas where politicians on the right can better connect with voters. Eighty-eight percent of respondents in the poll said that energy prices hurt their personal finances, including 56 percent who said they hurt “a lot.” That’s considerably more than the percentage naming debt or government regulation as a personal financial problem.

McLaughlin’s report also found strong support for incremental proposals to create greater transparency in higher education; for example, 88 percent said they’d favor a measure requiring schools to give parents a full breakdown of tuition costs.